Of Angels and Ninjas
by ladyluck1668
Summary: "This is certainly unusual. The Gehabich Manor has never been robbed until now! And I wouldn't even call it a robbery! It is quite strange. Why, the ninja only steals the jewels that Lady Alice's suitors give her and take nothing from her!" Shurisu (ShunxAlice), set in the Victorian era
1. Prologue

_**Of Angels and Ninjas**_

 **Prologue**

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived a Sapphire Princess who lived in the kingdom of Wardington.

The kingdom was ruled by King Leon Von Hertzon and was made up of the king and his family, nobles, commoners, and ninjas. While the kingdom was peaceful for the most part, there were still disputes and tension between the nobles and the ninjas. And the reason for this was quite simple: The nobles despised the ninjas for stealing their valuables and the ninjas hated the nobles for their greedy behavior and for their haughty attitude. There was not much the king himself could do, for he too despised the ninjas.

Although, even though the ninjas loathed the nobles, there was only one noble family that they could not hate: the Sapphire Princess. The Sapphire Princess was loved by all of Wardington, and even the ninjas, liked her. She was known for her beauty, for she had orange locks that enhanced the shape of her face and flowed beautifully down her back, dark chocolate brown eyes, pale pink lips that are always curved up in a smile, rosy cheeks and pale skin. Ironically, this young lady was not even a princess.

The so-called 'Sapphire Princess' was actually a duchess, whose real name is Lady Alice Gehabich, for her nickname was given to her by the people of Wardington. Lady Alice lived in a smaller mansion than most nobles with her grandfather, Duke Michael Gehabich, and around twenty or so servants. Even though she was known for her beauty, her kindness and politeness made her even more well loved. Her servants absolutely adored her, praising her for her gentleness and even poor peasants and commoners blessed her for her generosity.

Lady Alice and her grandfather had very little valuables, for they gave many of their valuables to the needy and poor and kept sentimental items, such as the tiara that her mother had owned and the engagement ring that the young girl's father gave her mother. The young girl had lost her parents in a horse and carriage accident at a very young age, and her grandfather, took care of his granddaughter from that moment on.

However, Lord Michael was growing older and he knew that he didn't have very much time left. He wanted his granddaughter to be taken care of after his death, and the only way he could ensure that, was to find Alice a husband. Being the gentle man he was, Lord Michael wanted to find his granddaughter a husband that would love her unconditionally, for he didn't want to force a marriage onto Alice. He could care less about the money and status; he just wanted his granddaughter happy. He came up with the idea of having young noble bachelors who were around his granddaughter's age to come to Gehabich Manor and from that, Alice would choose her husband.

As soon as Lord Michael declared his wish for Lady Alice, noblemen from nearly every kingdom came flocking to the Gehabich Manor. From the lowest nobles to the archdukes and dukes, nearly every young bachelor came to the Sapphire Princess' door. Word spread around town of how the Sapphire Princess will find her Prince, and everyone was talking about it, even the ninjas who wanted nothing to do with the nobility, were speaking over the issue. It wouldn't be long until the princess would become the talk of the town once again.

 **End of Chapter 1.**

 _Note: Hello! As you can see, I made just some very small fixes to this chapter; the very first original of this chapter was quite horrifying and because it was in third-person, it was difficult for me to continue on with the story. So instead, I decided to replace that chapter with this one! Please go read the second chapter of this story! It should be up by now!_ ( ･ω･)ﾉ


	2. Chapter 1

Hello hello~! I am so sorry for abandoning this story, since ever since I updated my original first chapter, I had no idea how to go from there and I really wanted to write the story out until the end, so I reworded the first chapter a bit, although the main points of the first chapter is still there. So before the second chapter begins, here are some answers to your reviews:

 _InnocentDiamond: Thank you for your review~! I myself don't really see a connection with Robin Hood...but I am curious, though, what makes it sounds similar to Robin Hood? Hmm...if you want to know if Klaus is going to be in the story...I guess you'll just have to read to find out then. (*＾∀ﾟ)ъ_

 _Guest: Thank you so much! (•‿•)_

 _Queen of Hearts and Spades: Thank you for your support!_ (o^^o)

 _animelover6798: Thank you for your encouraging words!_ ≧ω≦

 _If Destroyed Still True: Oh, thank you so much for the compliment! Ahaha, well, the very first chapter did say that it was a prologue. (*ゝω・)ﾉ Well, because this is a sort of like 'The Bachelorette', many people will be competing for Alice's heart. But let's see if Klaus is going to be in this competition, eh? (○ﾟε^○) Thank you so much for your support! I apologize for taking so long to update!_

 _Guest pretty pretty: Oh really? When was the last time someone used the term 'Victorian era'? Hmm, is Klaus going to be involved? I guess you'll just have to read to find out!_ （●＞ω＜●）

 _cherry-tree-of-life: Alice is actually a duchess in this story and she lands in the middle of the nobility spectrum, I believe. Alice is one of the nicest characters in Bakugan, so I am sure that she gets along with nearly everyone._ （⌒▽⌒） _And no, the third person point of view speech won't be used; if you look back at the now updated first chapter, you will notice that it isn't in third person point of view. I apologize if it bothered you!_

 _hitokori midnight: Hello and I apologize for taking so long to update! I appreciate your support!_ ⊂((・▽・))⊃

 **Chapter 1**

"Milady, I apologize for interrupting your time off today, but it appears that Duke Lync Volan of New Vestroia has arrived." Said lady's personal guardsman bowed deeply as his mistress closed the book that was in her hands and placed it on the small table. Today had been one of the only free days that the Duchess had when she didn't have to attend to her suitors or her lessons and she had wanted to spend it outside in the garden with a nice book. Unfortunately for her, it didn't last very long.

"Thank you Sir Masquerade...I suppose we must let him in." Lady Alice sighed as she rose from her seat, walking away from her seat in the garden into the manor to greet her unexpected guest.

Both her lady-in-waiting and her personal guardsman gave their lady sympathetic looks as they followed her. Lady Christina and Sir Masquerade had grew up together with the duchess and while they knew that their lady was popular among the people of Wardington, they hadn't expected that she was _this_ popular. Within the first few hours that Duke Michael had announced his granddaughter's hand in marriage, nearly all of the noblemen in the the kingdom of Wardington arrived. And within the first few days, more noblemen from other kingdoms arrived at the Gehabich Manor. For the past two weeks, the poor duchess was forced to meet one suitor after another continuously, until her grandfather decided that she deserved a rest and gave her a day off.

"Cheer up, milady! I suppose since Duke Lync is here today, perhaps milord will allow you tomorrow off." Lady Christina tried to cheer up her duchess as they entered the living room, where Duke Michael sat with the suitor. Standing behind the Duke of New Vestroia was Sir Volt Luster, the duke's guardsman. From the looks of it, Lord Michael seemed highly uncomfortable with Duke Lync and nearly sighed in relief when he saw his granddaughter enter the room.

"Good afternoon, grandfather." Alice smiled warmly as she pressed a kiss against her grandfather's cheek before he left and turned to curtsy at the guest. "Good afternoon, my lord. I am honored to meet you."

"Good afternoon, Lady Alice." The suitor replied smugly as he took her gloved hand and kissed it. The lady mentally thanked her lady-in-waiting for advising her to wear gloves. "The pleasure is all mine. I am honored to meet a beautiful lady such as yourself." And with that, the duke winked flirtatiously and instead of finding it charming, Alice felt nearly disgusted.

"It is a lovely afternoon. Would you like to chat over some tea in the garden?" Quick to change the subject, the young duchess asked as she began walking back towards the garden that she had previously left, her lady-in-waiting and guardsman right by her heels right after they had flagged down a servant and asked them to bring tea and cakes over into the garden.

"Of course, anything for the pretty lady." Alice forced a polite smile at the cringy response as the two walked side-by-side out into the garden, their personal servants trailing behind them. Throughout the walk to the garden, the young duke continued on making advances towards the young duchess and as harsh as it sounded, the young duchess wanted to slap him. It was quite unbearable and as soon as they reached the garden, she nearly sighed in relief when she settled into the plush loveseat. She tried to suppress a sigh of annoyance when the duke settled in besides her.

"Volt. Leave us." The duke commanded as a servant brought out the tea and cakes. He then turned to her expectantly, as if to tell her to do the same thing with Lady Christina and Sir Masquerade.

"Lady Christina, Sir Masquerade, you both are excused." Alice smiled wryly as she looked to her lady-in-waiting and her personal guardsman. The pair looked at their lady with confusion and she could understand why. The three of them had been friends for nearly their whole lives and knew each other inside and out. It was quite obvious that the two sensed her discomfort around the duke.

"Will you be all right alone, milady? Perhaps Sir Masquerade could stay behind for your safety and protection." The lady-in-waiting asked cautiously.

"I will be all right, Christina, thank you. You both may leave." The Sapphire Princess regretted the words that left her lips as she shot the pair a small, forced smile before the two bowed and walked away slowly.

Once their personal servants left the garden, the young duke and duchess made small talk. Quite honestly it was more of Alice _trying_ to make small talk while the duke attempted to flirt with her. She so desperately wanted to shoo the young duke away but she reminded herself that she shouldn't judge Duke Lync just yet. After all, he was a foreign suitor to her; he came from the kingdom of New Vestroia and perhaps this was what he considered to be 'charming'. Unfortunately for the poor duchess, the more the conversation dragged on, the more she realized that he was arrogant and a showoff, for the the entire conversation was about him. Not once besides the introductions did he ask her about herself. He talked about how he was from the highest nobility in the kingdom of New Vestroia and Alice bit her tongue; she knew that he was lying, for former-prince-now-King Keith was the top highest of New Vestroia's nobility alongside his sister, Princess Mira. Instead of exposing him for his lies, she merely smiled politely and nodded.

"Oh that reminds me! I have a gift for you, your grace." The young duchess was startled at the sudden change of topic, but she was grateful nevertheless that the Lord Lync finally changed the topic to something that didn't involve him or his 'greatness'. The duke pulled out a box out of the green cape that was draped over his shoulder and he handed it to her. "Open it!" He looked at her rather excitedly and for a split moment, Alice found him quite endearing. She lifted the top of the box to find a glassy pearl necklace staring back at her.

"It's beautiful, my lord, but I cannot-"

"Take it, I insist! After all, there will be more beautiful jewelry like this when we get married." He winked at her and the Sapphire Princess regretted that she called him endearing. "It will look beautiful on you. Here, I'll put it on for you." As the duke reached over to grab the box from her hands, a white smoke suddenly erupted, causing a fog that blurred out the Alice's vision, making it difficult to see just about anything. She felt the box which contained the necklace slip away from her hands and something much lighter replace it instead. Before long, Alice felt a strong hand grabbing her wrist, ushering her out of the fog and even though she was still a good distance away from the fog, it was still hard to see much.

She didn't even have enough time to register what exactly happened when Lync let out a piercing cry before his voice became muffled.

"Milord!"

"Your Grace!"

By the time Volt as well as Christina and Masquerade arrived in the garden, the white smoke had started to die out, leaving an utterly confused duchess and an utterly terrified duke.

"Milady, are you all right? Are you hurt anywhere? Are you in pain?" The lady-in-waiting and personal guardsman run towards their lady, glancing over her for any signs of cuts or bruises.

"I-I'm fine, thank you. I'm just in-" Lady Alice began her explanation.

"He-He-He th-threatened me!" The terrified Lync stammered as he stared at Alice and her personal servants, his eyes that were full of arrogance were now replaced with fear.

"Who, my lord?" Lady Christina asked curiously as she arched an eyebrow at her duchess, as if asking for an explanation.

"Him! He threatened me, saying that I shouldn't go anywhere near her or else he'll-he'll..." The hysteric duke hiccuped out, still horrified by the events that just occurred.

"Was it a ninja, my duke?" Sir Masquerade asked the shaking duke, who nodded his head fiercely. "That's...strange. We've never had a ninja invade our manor before. Is anything stolen from you milady? Lady Christina and I were with Lord Michael and the other servants were all dispersed in different rooms. And none of them have reported anything missing or stolen." He crouched down and picked up a deflated black, plastic item off of the cement; a ninja smoke bomb.

The confused duchess shook her head slowly. "No, I don't suppose so-oh!" She looked down at her hands to notice that the jewelry box that contained the pearl necklace was now replaced with a white rose-like flower, except it did not have thorns like traditional roses. It was beautiful...but she didn't know what type of flower it was.

"The necklace! It's stolen!" Lync wailed as he looked at the flower mournfully. "The ninja must have taken the necklace I gave!"

"That is strange..." Alice murmured as she twirled the engagement ring her mother had owned. This ninja had taken the pearl necklace that Lord Lync had given her, but did not steal any other valuables.

"Perhaps we should go inside. I suppose we'll be...safer inside." The duchess composed herself as the three personal servants obediently obeyed her and even the duke listened, although he continued sulking as he followed them inside. Before truly going inside the manor, the Sapphire Princess glanced back at the garden once more, as if she was looking for someone, before she entered the manor. Her fingers gently caressed the white petals and she smiled fondly at it, mentally thanking the ninja from saving her from a disastrous afternoon.

 _xoxo_

"A pearl necklace? I never knew that you were into these." A pale green-blue haired male scoffed as he returned back the necklace to its respective 'owner'.

The 'owner' chuckled. "Of course I'm not into these. This is a worthless piece of jewelry. It's certainly no sapphire."

"Have you heard? The Gehabich Manor was robbed! It's never been robbed! And it's not even a robbery! The ninja just stole the necklace Duke Lync gave to Lady Alice!" A dark haired brunette exclaimed, interrupting the conversation between the two friends who averted their attention to the brunette. "Oh, you stole some jewelry-wait. It's a pearl necklace. Why would you steal it? The common ladies won't even wear these." The brunette rambled on, having forgotten about the piece of news he was previously ranting about. "I gave a pearl to Runo once and she didn't even accept it! Threw it right back at me! Could you believe that?!"

The other two chuckled at the brunette's distress. "Cut it out! That wasn't funny!" The brunette sulked as his other friends continued laughing.

"Fine fine, we'll stop. But you haven't answered my question though." The pale green-blue haired male averted his attention back to the raven-haired male. "Why would you steal this?"

The raven-haired male smirked as he held up the pearl necklace before he answered,

"To show those lowly nobles not to mess with what's mine."

 **End of Chapter 1.**

 _Note: *sweats* Ahaha, I've abandoned this story for months and I come back with this terrible excuse of a chapter. PLEASE FORGIVE ME!_ (ó﹏ò｡) _I wrote this in a span of about an hour and a half and I apologize that this is truly horrific. Please do not kill me!_ ヽ(ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ _I hope this chapter makes somewhat sense for you while you were reading this, but if it doesn't, feel free to send me a PM and I'll be more than happy to answer your questions or you could just ask your questions in your review and I'll be sure to answer it before the third chapter!_ _Anyways, please review your thoughts on this chapter and since I still have some time on my hands, maybe I'll update the third chapter! Bye~!_


	3. Chapter 2

_*emerges out of a grave, with dirt everywhere* I'M (barely) ALIVE! AHHHH, it feels like ages since I wrote something for this story! I am so sorry for being away for so long,but here I am. Alive (well, kinda)! Okay, so before this chapter starts, I just want to thank you all so much for your lovely reviews and here are some responses to your reviews:_

 _hitokori midnight: *hugs you back* No, thank YOU for all of your support! Spoiler alert: Shun's not doing anything in this chapter, but maybe he'll do some thieving in future chapters? Who knows?_ _(・∀・)_

 _Guest pretty pretty: OHH, I SEE! Ooh, I like the Elizabethan era too! I haven't watched any new anime since forever, so I might look more into 'Snow White with Red Hair'. Oh I had kind of hoped that it was implied that Shun was the one dragging her out of the smoke? Well, you know now, so that's all that matters~! (*≧∀≦*)_

 _InnocentDiamond: Ah, well, it is similar to Robin Hood that there are economic classes and differences/disputes between classes! Ahaha, yep! I feel like we all need a friend like Christina in our life. Well, pearls are quite nice gems/jewels, but if you compare it to a sapphire *hint hint, wink wink* pearls aren't as valuable as other gems. Ahaha, gotta add some DanxRuno in the story to make it interesting! Runo's socio-economic class will be revealed later~!_ _(。-ω-)_

 _Guest:_ _（＾ｖ＾）_

 _cherry-tree-of-life: Ahaha, no problem! I'm sorry if it bothered you! Yep! Nobody wants anything bad happening to the Sapphire Princess, of course._ _(=^_^=)_

 _Cup of Violet Tea: *bows down* Oh my goodness, you must be a flower genius! The mystery flower will be revealed in this chapter, but I will tell you that you thought of the correct flower!_ _o(_ _)o_

 **Chapter 2**

"Milady, I apologize for repeatedly disturbing you, but it appears that Lady Julie has arrived." The young duchess' personal guardsman bowed deeply as his mistress let out a wistful sigh which was soon followed by a small giggle as she set her book down.

"Thank you, Sir Masquerade. Is Cook informed?" She inquired as she rose up from her seat and proceeded to enter the manor to greet her unexpected but not unwanted guest with her personal guardsman and her lady-in-waiting by her heels. Lady Julie Makimoto was one of Lady Alice's good childhood friends. The two of them were rather close to one another until as of two years ago, when Julie traveled to Bakugan Valley to visit her older sister, Daisy, for two years. Julie had never told Alice of her return, even through the letters they wrote to each other, but Alice supposed that that was just Julie being spontaneous.

"Ah, well, Cook is fiercely preparing some Earl Grey Tea alongside some tea cakes and other pastries as we speak, milady." Lady Christina smiled. The trio had merely entered into the living room for just a few moments before Alice was attacked by a hug from Julie.

"ALICE~!" Julie shrieked as she ran to embrace her friend into a hug. The suddenness of it all surprised the older, causing her to stumble back before hugging back her friend after regaining her balance.

"Julie! You never told me that you were coming back!" The Sapphire Princess giggled as they broke the hug. Alice held on gently to Julie's hand, leading her to the garden. "How was Bakugan Valley?"

"Oh, it was dreadfully boring! I had no one to talk to! Well...except for Princess Mira when she came to visit, but she's much too serious for my liking and her brother, King Keith is gone much of the time! I don't know if it's because of his duties as king, but I missed you so much!" Julie lamented as the two ladies walked towards the garden. They had rounded the corner to seat themselves at the white gazebo, with Sir Masquerade pulling out the chairs for both of the ladies to sit.

They both thanked him as he dismissed himself for retrieving the tea and cakes. As soon as he was out of earshot, Julie semi-whispered to Alice, "I must have been away for so long, but Sir Masquerade looks so handsome! It's such a shame that he isn't a duke or a high noble, otherwise he could have been my suitor."

Alice heard a voice clearing their throat and turned to find her lady-in-waiting, Lady Christina's emerald green eyes glaring fiercely at Julie, unbeknownst to her, and the Sapphire Princess quietly laughed to herself.

"I suppose you have enough suitors waiting on you already, Julie." Alice smiled warmly at the thought of Julie being flirtatous with the suitors.

"Well, the amount of suitors that I have coming to me is certainly no match to you, Alice!" Julie exclaimed before she lowered her voice a bit, but not quite whispering. "You've been the talk of the town for these past few days! Now are you certain that nothing's stolen? No jewelry, no gold, no nothing?"

Alice shook her head. "No, I am quite certain. I was wearing my mother's engagement ring-why, thank you, Sir Masquerade. Sir Masquerade, Lady Christina, you are dismissed." She was interrupted by the arrival of her personal guardsman with the tea. The two of them looked skeptically at each other before they looked back at their lady.

"Ah...are you...certain that you would like us to leave? Especially..." Lady Christina's voice trailed off, hoping that her lady would understand what she was hinting at.

She nodded firmly. "I am certain, thank you. If anything happens, I shall call for you."

"Yes, milady." Masquerade bowed deeply as Christina curtsied as far as she could. The two walked off quite slowly, as if they wanted to stay behind with their lady.

"You were saying about your mother's ring?" Julie was quick to jump back on the topic that was momentarily forgotten.

"Oh, yes. I was wearing my mother's ring that day when the...intrusion, I suppose, happened. It was so...unusual, Julie. A smoke bomb had exploded where Duke Lync and I were sitting and I felt a hand, it must have been the ninja's hand, pulling me out of the smoke. I was holding the pearl necklace that Duke Lync gave me-"

"A pearl necklace?! Oh, that ninja saved you from that horrid Lync! Pearls are so common! Even the commoners wouldn't wear them!" The young Makimoto lady huffed as she bit into a piece of fruit cake. "Whatever happened of that horrid necklace?"

"I suppose the ninja took it-"

"Oh, I hope that ninja destroyed that necklace! And how was Duke Lync? I presume that he is no longer one of your suitors?" Julie asked and Alice had to laugh a bit at how she was so distraught over the necklace.

"Oh, he was quite terrified the time the smoke cleared and Sir Masquerade and Lady Christina came. He left within a few hours, too. I suppose he is no longer one of my suitors and I am quite grateful. One less person out of the lot." She sighed remorsefully, wishing that her long list of suitors would decrease greatly.

"Do you think that this would continually happen? I find it quite strange that the ninja has attacked _only_ Duke Lync and not your other suitors so far, but I suppose that that ninja probably hates Lync and I wouldn't blame him either. He's unbearable." Julie sipped on her tea, adding in another lump of sugar in it.

Alice chewed thoughtfully on her tea cake. "I...I'm not quite certain, actually..." And in her mind, she secretly told herself that she didn't mind having the ninja around. In a way, it almost reminded her that someone was watching out for her.

The rest of the visit was quite enjoyable and Alice never knew that she had missed the company of her friends so much. The two moved on from that subject to other subjects such as the upcoming ball that King Leon von Hertzon was hosting and Julie fretted about which ballgown she was to wear to. When it was time for Julie to leave, the two made plans for Alice to come visit Julie in Makimoto Manor to get a ballgown done by Julie's favorite seamstress. The two embraced each other in a hug and promised to keep in touch and they waved at each other as Julie's carriage grew further and further distant.

In her room, Alice walked over to her nightstand, where the white rose-like flower had been resting in a vase full of water. She smiled as she gently stroked the petals of the mystery flower, no, the gardenia. She remembered asking her gardener about the mystery flower and blushed at the memory.

 _"Oh, a gardenia! I haven't seen one in so long!" The elderly gardener smiled joyfully as he took the flower from his lady's hand. He began admiring the flower before he gave it back to her, a mischievous grin plastered on his face. "I believe you have a secret admirer milady. After all, gardenias are used to as a way to send a message of secret love."_

XOXO

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived the Prince of Thieves who lived in the outskirts of the kingdom of Wardington.

The Prince of Thieves was praised highly by his fellow ninjas and was on good relations with the commoners, for the commoners and the ninjas both despised the nobles. On the other hand, he was greatly hated by the nobles, for they could never catch him for all of their precious belongings that he had stolen from them. Ironically, the nobles hated a man whom they never saw before. The Prince of Thieves had shoulder-length raven hair, observant hazel brown eyes, pale lips that were almost always stayed in a scowl, and ivory skin.

The so-called 'Prince of Thieves' was the grandson of a former ninja warrior, whose real name is Shun Kazami. His nickname was given to him by one of his close friends and fellow ninja, Dan Kuso. It was originally intended as a joke, since Shun's grandfather, was called the 'King of Thieves' by the ninjas, so Dan had thought that it would be quite a laugh to call his friend the 'Prince of Thieves'. It surprisingly stuck and whenever a highly guarded valuable was stolen by a ninja, the nobles would blame it on the 'Prince of Thieves', even if it wasn't even Shun who stole it from them.

The Prince of Thieves was coming to an age where it would be suitable for him to choose a wife. While there were many of commoner girls who swooned and admired him, he wanted someone else, someone that was quite unexpected. After all, he had reasoned, for every 'Prince', there must be a 'Princess' and the Prince of Thieves intended to win the heart of one particular 'Princess'.

 **End of Chapter 2.**

 _Note: *cries while rocking back and forth* What. Have. I. Done?! I wrote approximately 1,000 words-excluding the little introduction and the ending note-and what was it about? A. Freaking. Tea. Party. *continues crying* I am so sorry for this extremely cringy and quite uninteresting chapter! After the events that happened with Lync, Alice really deserves a break. So, what better way than with our lovable and gossipy girl, Julie! Anyways, yes, the title of Shun being the 'Prince of Thieves' is from Robin Hood (haha, at least there's a *little bit* of Robin Hood in there, InnocentDiamond) and you are correct, Cup of Violet Tea, the mystery flower is a gardenia! You must really know your flowers! Anyways, I'll be back soon with 'Hauntingly Beautiful' so I hope to see you soon~! Bye~!_


	4. Chapter 3

*rows a canoe through a river of my own tears* I'm...back? Barely? AHH I am **so so so** sorry for being away for so long. Life is honestly kicking my butt right now and I've been feeling so overwhelmed. I apologize to those who were waiting for an update on 'Hauntingly Beautiful', but the polls voted in favor of this story, but I promise that I will get around to updating 'Hauntingly Beautiful' eventually. Before we begin, here are some responses to your reviews:

 _InnocentDiamond: I've actually never tried Tazo's English Breakfast Tea or Earl Grey Tea before! I've been sticking to milk tea and herbal tea for as long as I can remember! Julie, in my opinion, seems like the type of person who cares a lot about her social status, especially since she's about the same rank as Alice. LOL, I feel bad_ _now for painting Lync to seem like such a bad guy-I never really liked him in the anime and I now wished that I didn't let my prejudice paint him to be like a bad person. I really wish that I had phrased the last part of the last chapter better, but I was trying to say that Shun's thieving was really impactful that it caused many people to believe that he stole from them, even if it isn't the case. Sorry about that! ヽ(ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ_

 _Cup of Violet Tea: AH, CONGRATS ON GUESSING IT CORRECTLY~! Well, I mean, I don't think a lot of us who watched the anime really liked Lync (if anyone did, I apologize) and pearls, while they are pricey, aren't as expensive as say, a sapphire. *hint hint wink wink* AHHH! I wished that I phrased the last part of the chapter better, but I wanted to show how impactful Shun's thieving skills were that whenever something was stolen, people would automatically think it was him. I'm sorry for that misunderstanding! Hmm...Shun's grandfather's role will be revealed later in the story, so stay tuned~! ｡^‿^｡_

 _Guest pretty pretty: Ah, no worries! You get it now, so that's what's important! To be honest, I don't even know myself, haha. I gave up on old English a long time ago too, but 'Cook' sounded better than 'Chef' to me, but since they're basically the same thing, I guess it's okay either way. LOL, I feel like Alice is a lot calmer than Julie, so it makes more sense for Alice to have more suitors than Julie. Life is honestly kicking my butt right now, but I'll try my best to watch 'Snow White with Red Hair'! Yay! I have my first Mastina/Chrisquerade (Masquerade x Christina-I need to think of better ship names) shipper! I can't guarantee you that they'll be like Kiki x Mitsuhide, but let's see how they end up. Alice is such an honest person that I feel like she'd feel guilty if she lied about having a cold! ٩(^ᴗ^)۶_

 _Guest XxAnime159xX: Well, here's an update! I'm so sorry that it took this long! (つ﹏。)_

 _cherry-tree-of-life: Yep, the Bakugan world/universe is really confusing at times. AHH! Oh my gosh, I didn't mean to paint Mira or Keith to be boring people! I felt that since Julie's so bubbly and enthusiastic, her personality would clash with that of Mira and Keith's. Aw, that sounds like such a cute idea! ≧ω≦_

 _PhantomSeekerz255: The story isn't over yet, so don't worry! I'm just really behind on updates, LOL. （◞‸◟）_

 **Chapter 3**

A gentle breeze, whispering enticingly to the greenery and the shrubbery of the Gehabich Manor, gave Alice a moment to pause on her watercolor painting and take a moment to pause and smile fondly of her newly gained freedom.

Ever since the incident with Lord Lync and the ninja, the young duchess had a dramatic decrease in suitors asking for her hand in marriage, allowing her a month of 'freedom'. While her grandfather, Lord Michael, was absolutely worried about what it would mean for her future marriage, Alice couldn't help but relish in her newly gained freedom. For an entire month, she didn't have to put on a facade and deal with obnoxious suitors. Her mood improved greatly and she was able to enjoy the simple things that she took for granted. She often wished to thank the the ninja who scared off more than half of her suitors away, but she was still confused. This ninja didn't steal a single thing from her the entire month and only took the pearl necklace that Lord Lync gave her, although Alice was sure that her late mother's jewelry or some of her own jewelry was much more expensive than the stolen necklace. She finally reasoned that the ninja must have had a underlying hatred for the young duke and that none of the ninjas ever stole from the Gehabich Manor due to its lack of abundance in riches and precious gemstones. Even with that reasoning, she still couldn't understand the issue of the gardenia. The Gehabich gardener had told her a month ago that gardenias were symbolic of secret love...Perhaps the ninja was in love with her?!

Her cheeks turned pink at the idea and she quickly shook her head as if it could diminish her thoughts. The young noblewoman raised her paint brush and resumed adding a hint of cerulean blue to her painting, enjoying that leisurely feeling of being able to paint. Little did she know that it was the calm before a storm...

 _xoxo_

"What did you bring this time?" An elderly man, who was currently on the floor with his legs crossed and eyes closed in concentration, hissed as his younger male counterpart slipped off his shoes and sat next to him.

"Nothing much, just the same things." The younger male replied nonchalantly as he too crossed his legs and closed his eyes, preparing himself for intense meditation.

"Nothing much? Then let's see what you have brought home, shall we?" The elder scoffed with no venom in his tone as he finally opened his eyes and turned to face his grandson, who still had his eyes shut.

"Of course." The younger male replied back, a hint of amusement in his tone and a small smile past his lips. Without ever opening his eyes, he reached into one of the pockets located on the inside of his green coat and he pulled out a small brown bag, throwing it into the direction of which he heard his grandfather's voice. Within a few seconds, the bag was caught and the contents inside of the bag was promptly spilled out onto the floor. The younger male, who had yet to open his eyes, let out a small smirk as he listened to his grandfather sift through the contents.

"Hmmph, not bad...for an amateur!" The elderly man scoffed as he examined through the pile of precious jewels and the gold coins. "Back in my day, I stole a far lot more in one day than you did in this past month!" The younger male didn't have to open his eyes to know that his grandfather was shaking his head, in fondness or in disappointment, he couldn't tell. "It amazes me that you are called the 'Prince of Thieves' with this amount stolen!" The former 'Prince of Thieves' shook his head once more and began to gather the stolen goods when his grandson's voice stopped him.

"Take what you want, but leave the pearl necklace." The younger male spoke, voice firm and eyes yet to be opened.

"You wasted your time stealing _that?"_ The elderly man scoffed before rising to his feet, having already gathered up all of the other jewels. "I wouldn't even waste my time to pick a useless piece of jewelry like that! Return it immediately; it isn't worth anything compared to these other jewels." The old man shook his head as he walked off, a cane in his hand, although he didn't really need it to help him walk.

It wasn't until the footsteps of the elderly man ceased to be heard when the younger male finally opened his eyes and examined his newly acquired piece of jewelry. Smirking at it, he got up and walked to his room. Once inside, he placed the pearl necklace into a thin black box which contained various types of gemstones and jewelry. He placed it next to a black choker and stopped for a moment to stare at the two pieces of jewelry.

'Just a few more and then it'll be done...please wait for me, princess...'

 _xoxo_

"Milady, a letter just came here this afternoon and it appears to be from Prince Hydron of the kingdom of Vestal." Alice furrowed her eyebrows and frowned a bit as she closed the book in her hands and took the envelope with a red seal from her personal guard's hands.

"Thank you, Sir Masquerade..." She thanked him as she lifted the red seal of the envelope to reveal a letter tucked in the insides of the envelope. Taking the letter out of the envelope and unfolding it, her chocolate brown eyes scanned through the contents of the letter. Her chocolate brown eyes widened during certain parts of the letter and at one point, she nearly gasped aloud. It took a few moments, but when she was done reading the letter, she set it down on the table across from her and she seemed dazed.

"What was it, milady?" Her lady-in-waiting asked curiously.

"Prince Hydron requests my visit to his palace in his kingdom of Vestal in three days' time." Alice replied back, her voice uneven for she was still in shock. How could it be that Prince Hydron of a kingdom far away from hers was asking for her presence?! She had never met the male before and she was sure that he had never met her either.

"Oh, how perfectly wonderful!" Christina gushed as she took the letter from off of the table. "Your Grace, Prince Hydron is the crown prince of the kingdom of Vestal! I'm sure he must be in want of a bride!" The orange-haired female couldn't help but smile fondly at her red-haired friend. When they were children and even until now, Christina was very romantic, dreaming of Prince Charming's and true love and Alice couldn't help but find it endearing.

"As tempting as being the crown prince sounds, Prince Hydron is known to be very spoiled, milady." Masquerade's deep baritone voice turned steely cold as his brown eyes glared at the letter in Christina's hands, to which the young duchess had to stifle a giggle.

"I believe it is getting late and dinner must be prepared by now. Cook will be upset if we are late to the dinner table." Alice rose from her seat, her book in her hand. Just before she entered the manor though, she took one last glance at the garden, as if trying to tell an imaginary person to come rescue her...

 _xoxo_

"Shun, why in the name of the devil are you packing your belongings?! Are you planning to run away?!" The former 'Prince of Thieves' asked quite loudly as he watched his grandson packing up clothes and other necessities into a small brown knapsack.

"I am going to the kingdom of Vestal." Was the reply as the current 'Prince of Thieves' added the last folded shirt into his small bag.

"What for? You've never traveled this far from Wardington before." His grandfather mused as he watched Shun tightening the bag before slinging it over his shoulder and walking out of his room.

"To show Prince Hydron to not mess with what's mine."

 **End of Chapter 3.**

 _Note: *hides beneath a pile of blankets and plushies* I finally updated/came back from months long hiatus and what did I write about? *proceeds to slam my head on a table* I honestly have no idea if what I wrote made sense nevertheless decent, and I am so sorry for this...this...this sorry excuse of a chapter/update! *cries in stolen pearl necklaces* But anyways, to clear up any confusion, Prince Hydron will be the prince of Vestal while Keith and Mira are the king and princess of New Vestroia and let's pretend for the sake of this story that Vestal and New Vestroia are two completely different places. And yes, the last sentence of this novel is sort of a repeat of the 'real second chapter' (the epilogue is counted as chapter 1, but really, the second chapter is the first chapter of the story...hopefully that makes sense) because ya girl isn't really creative. Please forgive my sorry excuse of a chapter but since I'm on break, there will be updates on my other stories as well (speaking of updates, I really need to update Hauntingly Beautiful ) so I'll see you soon! Bye bye~!_


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